the latest news on the week's top stories on. rights groups in egypt claim violations in the vote on a new draft constitution with unofficial results showing a narrow backing for it sporadic violence continues to erupt in the streets. the rebels in syria claim they are making gains in their push towards damascus while the u.s. is giving the opposition by granting it official approval. defiance north korea blasts off its latest rocket despite global condemnation saying it managed to place a weather satellite into orbit. live

from. the studios here in moscow this is the with me wrong and welcome to the program. now rights groups in egypt calling for saturday's first stage of a constitutional referendum to be held again after claiming widespread violations meanwhile unofficial tallies released by the islamist show a narrow majority backing the charter of the opposition which has been urging a no vote to what it calls a discriminatory draft also accepted their opponents who are leading with a slim advantage a journalist a bell trues been following the vote in cairo. it's been a tense night here in the capital in cairo as people have been waiting for these key results on the referendum of the constitution to limit the results of course

the official ones will come out of the second round which indicates that it was a yes vote the muslim brotherhood together with media outlets numbers and matching up there saying approximately fifty six point five percent voted yes forty three point five percent voting no this will seem to be of course a major blow to the opposition forces particularly because in this round only two of the governorates involved to the ten you voted actually voted no to the constitution this particular stage of the referendum was largely seem to be the biggest chance for a no vote to the constitution as the governor it's involved actually voted against the president during the presidential elections so really right now the opposition forces are going to have to either drum up support in the next six days for the second round or final time it's a tactic to campaign i think there will be heightened tensions of course i mean people have criticized the idea that the referendum respects in two days or the

week in the middle with these results coming out because of course people are going to react to them as we entered the late stages of the voting process which had been extended by several hours by the electoral commission because of high turnouts there were violent scenes in the streets of cairo and. the one party headquarters for the opposition position. where topped by suppose it supports is of has an arbor is a man who has knowledge of orthodox salafist leader one time presidential candidate one party did i reports that ultra conservative islamists torched their headquarters talking with firearms until the security forces did report injuries so really we'll have to see if the next week what happens in the build up to the second round this crucial rounds as the seventeen other governorates going to vote on this constitution. just a bit earlier in the program i spoke to khaled the wood spokesperson for the national salvation front he claims or have been

a number of violations and the opposition is also demanding a repeat of the first stage of the referendum. right now we want the authorities the election commission to look into the violations and to decide by itself whether this is good enough in order to repeat the first round and in case we are going to go to the second round we want to make sure that the violations are not going to be repeated particularly terms of the lack of judicial supervision there were not enough judges yesterday to look into the or to supervise the vote we also complained about the preventing our observers the preservers of human rights groups from attending the counting process according to a decision by the judges we want to attend and be present during the counting and we also complaining about the fact that the muslim brotherhood members were dealing with their propaganda inside the polling stations until the last minute trying to influence voters and tried to convince them to vote yes for the constitution claiming that voting no would that mean that you are an infidel or that you are again is this them so we're still holding a lot of hold the president morsi will listen to the voice of wisdom and

considering that this is a draft constitution that's dividing the country even if we take the results that are being circulated right now it's not enough definitely in a country after the revolution to have a constitution that's approved by a very small minority fifty something last let's shift our attention now to the out of syria where the rebels say they are making gains across the country and the push towards the capital damascus the opposition received another financial and political boost this week with america recognizing the coalition washington says it's meant to isolate extremist groups while allowing the rebels to up their struggle against the syrian government is going to look at exactly who's fighting in the anti assad camp. oh. they call themselves martyrs. all those you see around you the fighters you see are living larders and the living martyr has already sacrificed a soul for this country the syrian rebels say they will stop at nothing to defeat

us sot. some of them are so proud of their deeds that they post them on the web including the execution of prisoners. or having a child behead a man who was presumably an assault supporter atrocities are committed on all fronts during syria's bloody civil war according to many accounts on the ground it's islamist groups that do most of the fighting on behalf of the rebels dr towie come meet was a member of a jihadi spoken ization twenty five years ago he later became a vocal opponent of radical islam that you have this have no problem to behead people alive you didn't was people like bin ladin and there are because of al qaida who have no his shin to use any form of whip around to to to really. control any place. religious believes and ideology the so-called friends of syria including the gulf states the u.s. the u.k. and friends many morocco to throw their weight behind the newly formed syrian

opposition coalition two thirds of the islamic dominated anti assad coalition has the price to the muslim brotherhood and cellophane and their idea of freedom for syria what. a positive sign for us that our military struggle is characterized by being mostly islamic because martyrdom for the sake of anna has always been the main motive of people. in what's seen as a symbolic attempt to distance themselves from terrorists in syria washington has designated one of the rebel groups all nusra a terrorist organization but the same syrian opposition that the u.s. supports welcomes the efforts of groups like al nusra the decision of considering one of the. factions fighting the regime is a terrorist organization should be reconsidered. this is a demonstration of support for in syria with people heard chanting we are students of osama. you will hear in washington don't seem to understand that if

you don't like the government in cairo or if you do like the government in cairo i guess i should say then you will love the government the comes to power in damascus because you will see a sunni muslim islamised government a muslim brotherhood style government that is absolutely intolerant fundamentally hostile to the west washington has failed to officially denounce the many suicide bombings perpetrated by the rebels in syria preferring to focus on the wrongs committed by the assad regime alone the u.s. is also ramping up the rhetoric about the possibility of the assad government using chemical weapons against civilians something that damascus says would be suicidal on the other hand many rebels are not averse to the idea of suicide in the name of what they call holy war militants have recently taken control of a toxic chemical plant in the country's second city of aleppo a video was uploaded to youtube showing them testing chemical weapons on rabbits we

could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage. you will die like these two rabbits in its own words the government is fighting terrorists that battle has claimed thousands of innocent lives the measures the syrian government was ordered to have been widely criticized but does that mean the world should keep their eyes shocked at who's actually fighting for power in syria now in washington i'm going to check out. and hear it out here we're getting reports that tell us a palestinian refugee camp in damascus has come under attack by syrian warplanes activists claim at least eight people have been killed in this district where the camp is in the south of the capital has become the scene of heavy fighting between troops. and opposition forces this week nato accused the syrian government of using ballistic missiles against the rebels that is something damascus denies western warnings have also been circling over syria's chemical weapons with worries president assad could use his arsenal but there are also fears the stockpiles may

fall into the hands of extremists fighting among the rebels marcus papadopoulos the editor of politics first magazine says these concerns are not groundless. there's a very strong possibility that the syrian militants could very well acquire chemical weapons which of course would be catastrophic not just for syria but for the entire region it might be an inconvenient truth to many was western politicians and western journalists but of course the islamists in syria who are largely representative of the militants they wouldn't hesitate to use them against syria's minorities and they certainly wouldn't hesitate to use them against the show so is that why it's very important to stop the flow through the constant flow of weapons and cash into syria by certain western states and turkey saudi arabia and qatar that are doing absolutely everything they can at the moment to weaken the

syrian government's. this is the corporate giants like starbucks and imus on the finding legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes on their profits and the u.k. is losing billions of pounds as the public to. start paying. a lot more on that later in the program. also north korea launches a rocket despite international warnings that as we head off to the break some say shouldn't further isolate the country rather engage and. lift.

the speed. of light rightly. so.

today. these are the. streets of canada.

with me rovers. losing out on billions of pounds in tax some corporate giants so wriggling out of paying. naturally that's a public which is left to pick up the slack while also being loaded with tough austerity. reports the government seems quite fine with maintaining the status quo . well people from all of people tend not to protect this country companies like starbucks and apple and google at the moment it's really part of a much larger picture welcome to the world of tax avoidance illegal but morally suspect way companies and the wealthy have been dodging paying their fair share most people are due to discuss these companies do not the v.a. taxation which is a criminal offense but are void taxation basically use existing facilities and

legal loopholes in the different regulation and taxation between different countries to their advantage companies like amazon the head office is based in luxemburg which they claim is the center of the economic operations which is handy as luxembourg so well known in tax haven where companies can enjoy a low tax rate but hang on a minute we're here one of amundsen's massive distribution centers based in the u.k. in fact the reality is that many of our customers most of their employees and many will distribution centers like this what are in fact based here in the united kingdom so it's not hard to see that the relatively small luxembourg office is nothing in fact is they say at the heart of their operation and yet the u.k. tax system doesn't seem to recognize as ordinary british taxpayers who are losing

out that's entirely on the face of it to run because you can register your transaction in different country and the place of great distraction is the place of taxation where as you can have it has actually taken place here is that legal. surely then in the midst of a flat lining economy t.k. government would be eager to plug the holes billions of much needed tax pounds really count but in the chancellor's autumn statement last week and it was the pelisse on welfare he went in the government's firing line why has this government decided to clamp down on benefit for clamping down on multi-million pound tax avoiders. well i think that the government is clamping down on that there's been a lot of money allocated by. now that people know that.

or doing that they're doing it now that people know that they've been avoiding paying that amount of tax i mean it's no good doing it off the payroll there's a difference between people who are. voiding tax through legitimate reasons and those who are illegally doing it there is a to do when we were. still avoiding paying where interested me to get patented. let me actually answer the question once before you actually interoperability tax avoid is ok to legally tell you what starbucks and amazon and google have been doing is ok so you're saying there's a difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion tax evasion is illegal tax avoidance people are using the law to their benefit now if the law is wrong we need to change the law but for now the law continue to allow an exodus of profits made in britain meaning companies like amazon can keep getting away with paying less

than the tax payers they're profiting from sarah firth r.t. london. r.t. is coming here live from the heart of moscow working twenty four seven to provide you with the best stories and pictures online how about a quick look now and see what's waiting for there them what's in a name or just over forty five thousand bucks it seems that because that's what one american man has earned after selling someone the right to give him a new surname to find out his motivation that our two daughters calm. plus watching you watching a security firm discovered a way to hack into a so-called smart t.v. it's giving access to the devices built in camera and microphones ultimately allowing them to spy on everything you do. north korea defied the world on wednesday when it launched

a long range rocket which it says successfully placed a weather satellite into orbit over the claims were met with skepticism by the u.s. south korea and japan who all suspect that pyongyang was in fact testing long range ballistic missile technology north korea is banned from such tests by u.n. resolutions the security council condemned the launch saying it will consider an appropriate response while the e.u. is threatening yet more sanctions but antiwar campaigner erik cirrhotic and says talks are the only solution to the ongoing impasse. these are causes that have not less talks and the north koreans have been willing to attend talks other nations have certainly russia has another nations are that involved in the six party talks. are just japan south korea the united states are less. willing to engage in talks when these things happen but what the u.n. said was not only don't use ballistic missile technology it said we must have

a commitment to a peaceful diplomatic and political solution to the situation there and. that's what is really crying out and i think russia and other countries must finally say now wait a while is the little oblong but i'm afraid that the united states is going to step back talk less isolate more of the military base that the united states brought merrily south korea's building on jeju island in an effort to create a ring around china perhaps to deal with north korea are all setbacks to peace what's necessary i think at this point in time is to step back from the process and the outside countries the other countries around the world must say wait a minute peaceful china south korea north korea japan has a region will have a huge impact on will east and i think it's really incumbent that we put pressure

is toward peace and not to or not the conflict anymore. or at a seven twenty pm on sunday moscow time former russian intelligence officer alexander litvinenko who died in london from polonium poisoning six years ago was a paid agent for britain's m i six that's what a lawyer representing his widow told an official hearing earlier this week the investigation allege that at the time of his death litvinenko had been tasked by m i six to help spanish intelligence investigate the russian mafia and one of the lawyers involved in the case claimed the u.k. had obtained proof that moscow was behind his poisoning the announcements were made today prepare a tree hearing before the inquest which is shut jeweled for next may however a six year investigation failed to provide any evidence solid enough to identify any particular. now president vladimir putin has announced a crackdown on corruption in the country saying that no official or politician will

be able to rest easily put in focus on problems at home as he spoke to lawmakers for the first time since returning to the top job artie's elected a chef here listen to exactly what the president had to say. several years ago when former president medvedev addressed russia's lawmakers this signaled major constitutional changes for the country with the presidential term being extended to six years this time when president putin delivered his first annual address after returning to the kremlin for the third time it ran no major sensations nor political changes but at the same time this speech was even more significant as some have already said than many others before this time put in barely spoke about any foreign policy issues the main focus was on domestic problems in russia and there have been plenty according to russia's president in fact he started his speech by saying it is now or never as the world is going through

a crisis russia must stand up to all these challenges and the first and the most correct way to do that is to invest in two youths not richard is the that's the clear as of today the percentage of healthy active able bodied people in russia aged between twenty to forty is one of the highest in the world twenty years' time economically active population could shrink by fifty percent less we do something this trend will continue either we provide interesting jobs give opportunities to create business build families raise children be happy just a few decades russia will become a poor country populated by an elderly generation incapable of preserving its own territory. but the biggest issue dragging russia backwards for the past several decades has been the corruption among the higher echelons of power and that is why the largest chunk of putin's speech was dedicated to the struggle and the president

came up with some very tough rhetoric and heard in all twelve years putin has been in politics in russia but no wonder it seemed at times that putin was not addressing the whole russia and not for the whole world to see but he directed a stern warning to those. sitting in front of him cuckoo or david in order that we could you know when you can get it but how can people trust an official or a politician who talks a lot about the good of russia at the same time trying to take his money out of the country i ask you to support the bill to limit the amount of foreign accounts and stocks that officials and politicians can have that the people. don't applaud yet maybe you won't like everything i have to say but even put in will be holding an annual press conference for the world media and the eyes of the entire planet will again be on the russian president let's see russia r.t. reporting from inside the kremlin. all right let's get into it here on r t the

world update now and some other global headlines for you starting with activists in bahrain they say police have used tear gas on hundreds of anti-government demonstrators as rallies flared up again following the king's annual holiday address the country's leaders called for unity in his national day speech with the kingdom having been dealing with nearly two years of constant unrest the opposition is demanding more mass rallies and shia majority seek to improve their political standing in a sunni ruled nation tens of thousands also marched on the capitol this past friday continuing to defy a ban on public gatherings. have been violently enforcing their rally ban jailing several key human rights activists in the process. parliamentary elections in japan of ended with former leader shinzo party securing a majority in the lower house after three years in opposition to the defeat of his rivals the democratic party to the resignation of prime minister noda as the

party's president pre-election surveys have shown many people were undecided on the eve of the election a concerns were raised over the conservatives come back with fears about their leaders close ties with china and they don't go in territorial tensions. and thousands of medical workers in madrid have marched against plans to privatized hospitals the government insists is part of the austerity measures needed to pick the country up from its deep recession austerity is biting ever harder in spain where half of all young people are unemployed spain has a debt of one hundred forty five billion euros but is trying to avoid following week eurozone members down the path of balance. all of the names of the victims of the u.s. elementary school massacre in connecticut have been released twenty children gunned down in a shooting spree were aged between six and seven in the attack i did. as twenty

year old adam lanza shot dead his mother at their home before going on to kill at the school eventually turn the rifle on himself a memorial service for the victims has been held while flags flew with a half mast in washington. for it are still to come after a very short break here what are we brace the cold weather and travel to the north of russia the port city of much scott.

courageous and creative. elegance and full and most public speaking. sound coming from. a few european bodybuilders against millions of which immigrants. her. kids may not seem so serious now. but this could be a real threat to all. european extremists. on. the.

line motion to be soon which brightened the feni moon about song from phones to christians. means for instance on teen dot com. the more one screams in lines above the arctic circle.